0 A.D. is a free, open-source, cross-platform real-time strategy (RTS) game of ancient warfare. It's a historically-based war/economy game that allows players to relive or rewrite the history of twelve ancient civilizations, from Iberia to Mauryan India, each depicted at their peak of economic growth and military prowess. Developed using Pyrogenesis, a ground-breaking new game engine custom-built to suit this project, 0 A.D. will give players a rich and entertaining real-time gaming experience.

Best Upcoming Indie

Indie games, whether they be commercial or free, have always fought an uphill battle trying to gain some recognition within mainstream circles. Many have started planting roots at ModDB to kickstart their PR campaigns and gain some recognition. As a result of this, we're starting to see some impressive independent titles come out of the woodwork to share their development progress with ModDB's audience and build up strong communities around their games pre-launch. Here's the editors' best picks for the unreleased indies that have graced us with their presence in 2008.

ACE_Team wrote: Zeno Clash is an action/fighting game set in a punk fantasy world. The game blends the first person genre with the fighting game genre and the combat is generally up close and brutal. The original visuals, which make full use of the Source engine features, are a refreshing deviation from traditional fantasy games. Players will be immersed in a fantastic world, beautiful and disturbing at the same time. The unprecedented art style brings a fresh new approach to the first person genre. The surreal environments and characters will keep player's wanting to discover more. The combat in Zeno Clash is up, close & personal. The new melee combat system allows players to perform a variety of movements like deflect & elude combos, knockback finisher punches and punishing grab attacks. The depth of the combat system will put player's skills to the test. Learn new attacks as the game progresses and confronts you with more formidable foes.
Zeno Clash is a story driven game. Players will play the role of Ghat; the son of a impressive hermaphrodite creature called Father-Mother, whose children form the most powerful clan in the city of Halstedom. Ghat must escape from his family and start an incredible journey with his female companion Deadra, who will aid him in the dangerous lands of Zenozoik. An unusual arsenal of weapons is available for those who can manage to keep the enemy at a range. The eccentric weapons are built from scraps and junk, but they are most effective when used properly. Hammers and clubs will be the most effective when fighting heavy characters that can only be brought down with extreme force.

Infinity_Dev_Team wrote: Infinity is an open-ended game in which you control a spaceship throughought the entire galaxy, trying to make a name for yourself. You connect to an online server on which thousands of people are playing, 24/7. The game does not stop when you log off, but continues to evolve: it is a persistent universe. The game mechanics do not emphasize any particular gameplay style. Combat, trade, exploration, social relationships.. you are free to choose your own carrier path and goals. The only limit is your own imagination! Infinity is not a traditional role playing game. Although all players are expected to act in concordance with their avatar's motivations, there are no classes or skills to restrict your choices. Combat between spaceships is in true real-time, and the outcome is determined by your own intelligence and reflexes. Forget turn-based action and experience the great excitement of a first person experience! Using procedural techniques, the game universe has been designed to be huge and realistic. There are billions of solar systems and planets, each unique and awaiting to be discovered by a player. Coherent scales and distances are used, orbits of celestial bodies are correctly modeled and change continuously, allowing you to attend a sunrise on the moon of a giant planet, for instance.

Haidme wrote: KRUM is a 3D, single-player, third-person/first-person, computer role-playing game in early stage of development. KRUM has a medieval settings, with some fantasy elements. KRUM will be notable for its high-speed realistic 1 to 1 combats, easy to use interface and remarkable gameplay.

Wolfire_Games wrote: Overgrowth is a 3d action-adventure game for Mac, Windows, and Linux, coming soon from the independent game studio, Wolfire Games. We're five guys working more than full time on this until it's done. While Overgrowth will be inheriting the spirit of Lugaru’s tried and true combat system, it will also benefit from every cutting edge feature that our new Phoenix Engine has to offer. Fans can expect better graphics, better physics, more characters, more moves, great mod support, and co-operative multiplay.

Wildfire_Games wrote: 0 A.D. is a new freeware real-time strategy title currently under development by Wildfire Games. The full-featured game showcases six unique classical civilizations, each ideally depicted at their peak of economic growth and military prowess. Featuring a ground-breaking new game engine custom built to suit our environment, 0 A.D. strives to give a rich and entertaining real-time gaming experience peppered with historical authenticity. Our custom built rendering engine, Pyrogenesis, will be released open source, and the game itself will be completely data driven and 100% customizable.
Custom modding will be a breeze as will scenario design with our user-friendly and richly featured “Atlas” Editor, allowing for map editing, unit and object editing, particle editing, and the introduction of a scenario design feature we call “POGs” (more on this at a later date). Modifying the game's data files will be as simple as editing easy-to-understand Java scripts and XML files. There will never be a commercial game that allows for this amount of end-user freedom and customization.
The classical-era factions in our title consist of the Hellenic States (aka The Greeks), the Roman Republic, The Celtic Tribes, the Persian Empire, the Iberian Tribes, and the Carthaginian Empire. Each of these factions will be unique; from unique technologies to unique units, special buildings, and civilisation bonuses. While our inspiration for 0 A.D. was the classic game “Age of Empires II: Age of Kings” we have not bound the game 100% to “standard” RTS gameplay. We are introducing a number of innovations and gameplay tweaks into the genre, while maintaining the depth of strategy and real-time tactical decision-making that real-time strategy gamers have come to demand in a AAA title.

All Players Choice Categories

Gah! This ones a toss up between Infinity: Quest for Earth and Zeno Clash for me... The former because I want to believe that what they set out to do is actually possible, and fun, and the latter because the art direction is simply phenomenal, like a cross between Dark Crystal and The Labyrinth with the charm and soul of both.

Took the words right out of my mouth Wills. Infinity is my pick but I worry that it's too ambitious but if it were to work as advertised then it would blow away any game to date. Xeno Clash feels more tangible and looks incredible described as Wills put it.

Overgrowth is incredibly impressive for a custom engine built from the nothingness. Zeno Clash looks like another Source Classic (Dark messiah hellz yah), so I definitely will have to try it upon release as well.

Krum and infinity quest I've seen some amount from but personally did not get into them, though they must be very good to be on this list. I have never seen OAD, until now. This is as good of reason as any to check out some indie games.

This is a tough one to call. Generally all indie games I have seen so far have put in tremendous efforts and aim for originality and a high standard in their own rights.

My personal favorite would be infinity for a number of reasons, their immense gameplay mechanics, the freedom they'll offer players, the graphics, the detail, etc. However, all of the other nominations have something that makes them stand out, so I think this could be a real head-to-head race. I'm looking forward to the results!

Infinity has to show more than eyecandy to convince me that their awesome concepts are even possible.
KRUM looks kinda bland, we will have to see how it evolves.
Overgrowth is still in its infancy. I'm sure that it will be awesome once combat and models are in place but right now it's not ready to win an award.
0 A.D. looks good but too generic. I mean this looks like a Age of Empires open source game to me which is cool but not exactly award-winning.

Out of these Zeno Clash has clearly shown most. It has very polished visuals, interesting gameplay and a very do-able goal.

There is some Age of Empires influence in the game, being that half of the current staff comes from the Age of Kings and Age of Mythology modding community, but we have implemented many features to improve upon the games that we all loved. In addition to the game engine being built from the ground up by our staff, we've also constructed the game with the modder in mind, allowing virtually every aspect to be customizable, allowing you to recreate the game to suit your aspirations.

This is a difficult one... They all are great in their own areas and on their own merits. That said, I am a space fan, so Infinity has my vote... but Zeno Clash and Overgrowth are a tie and a very close second...

Zeno clash all the way Also i am happy to se more independant titles. Because these titles will be pc exulxives!!! So nore indie games= MORE PC EXCULSIVES! And pc exculive games is something very important!!

Posting a negative comment, and then being trolled, spammed, and having 5 other members all sign up to your forum to post spam and porn links is also trolling... Which is exactly what the ZP:S team did.

So, before you go giving me a lesson on maturity by swearing at me, know what it is you are sticking up for.

Hm... I thought this is to show what people don't see in the mass of players choice. Most nominees are in players choice too. I had hoped to see some titles that I did not see so far which are interesting. But well... out of the list I would say Zeno, simply because they are near to dishing out and the rest has already been hyped in players choice.

I need to revise my statement from before.. Taking a closer look at zeno clash. I am no so sure about Infinity taking this award. They have shown too little in comparison and zeno clash looks amazingly polished, perfect art direction, fantastic gameplay feel and generally very professionally put together. The only critique I could provide is that it looks like it will be rather repetitive. But we shall see.

Aw man this one is tough. But I'd choose infinty because I'm a sucker for space sims. Overgrowth and Zeno clash would tie for second, I love their crazy worlds already! I've never heard of the other two, so I'll check those out.